Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1887-07-15
THE QUEEN AND COURT.
Fetch worship of the English DRAWN.
Room-At the Mob's Mercy.

Fetch Worship of the English Drawing
Roonn-At the Mob's Mercy.
In England that institution called the
drawing room has in it about as much
nationality as may be found in any form
of feticL worship among the savages of
Africa. In the piercing east winds Of
March hundreds of delicate young girls,
of middle aged ladies, and tottering old
doWagers bare their arms and necks- half
way e the waist, put on trains to which
the peacock is Z dusty joke, and set f7lb
in broad daylight to spend an hour or Sc
in their carriages, waiting their ttt41lEi 4sll'
presentation or simple attendance. ] ~
rudest roughs and coarsest scum of L'H-
don gather round the carriages, standae
stationary for q quarter of an hour al a
time, or moving forward at a foot's pace,
They press close, flattening their nose
against the glass, making brutal remalS Us
and passing round little jokes The show
is for them as well as for the immediate
actors, and they are not minded to lSs
the benefit of it. The pretty young 81
have to run the gauntlet of an admiration
that is more offensive than fatterilg
The plain ones hear few unvarnishetl
words which make no pretense of gildh g.
The stout old ladies with their quiveriRg
acres of flesh displayed according to tie
rules, and the thin quinquagenariasls
bronchitic, nervous, an8mic, are saluted
with derision and criticised without
mercy.
Only that certain kind of opulent bean-
ty, which is radiant with health and des@
titute of nerves, enjoys the admiration
which to others sounds more like insults
than praise; and this kind sits well for
ward in the carriage, with awhile hand
and arm and polished shoulder generously
displayed; and the roughs are not u
grateful This is the first of the days
ordeals to be gone through by those who
attend the drawing rooms on their own
account or to present their daughters, as
|, kind of fetichistic dedication on their IN
PRODUCTION to society and the marriage
market. Within the peaace the crush Is
even more painful than has been the slew
transit, semi nude, in broad daylight, in q
biting wind and through the gross tongued
crowd A well dressed mob strives for
front places and first moments as siren
uously as it's ragged brethren in the
streets. Its language is more choice, and
it's fists are not so free; but its elbows are
as sharp, and it knows how to use them;
while pretty feet, daintily cased in silken
stockings and satin SHOES, prove that high
heels are by no means Inefficient pestles
There have been drawing rooms where
the struggle has been severe indeed, so
that the floor has been strewn with flow
ers and ribbons and jewels, as the wrecks
and spoils of battle; and whence the fair
flesh of the sweet faced combatants has
carried away scratches and bruises as
tokens of the contest. And all for what
To pass, in one rapid moment before the
queen and her court, standing in a semi
circle a little behind her, mute and mo
tionless as so many wax figures at Madame
Tussaud's There is no kindly converse
ton, no pleasant speeches, as in the even
ing receptions in Italy, say, where the
queen receives tho same as any other lady,
and her dignity as queen enhances her
sweetness as hostess. 1t is mere lifeless
form, out of which every fragment of hui
manity and common sense has been alb
stracted. But all this personal discomfort
and distress the women of England will
Hngly undergo for the sake of the fetch
they have created and now adore.-The
ArpOuaJlt,